Fast jokes, real criticism, no sterile reverence.
Small Beans is a rotating comedy-criticism feed built around movies, TV, anime, and genre oddities. Its best moments turn stray bits about Batman, Cowboy Bebop, skiing, or cannibalism into surprisingly firm arguments about form, politics, and character.
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Small Beans is a long-running criticism feed where movies, television, anime, and cult objects get processed through quick banter, recurring series, and a lot of productive derailment. The show does not pretend a clean recap is enough. A discussion might begin with a wordplay accident, an argument about what REM stands for, or a mock-heroic theory of horses, then slide into careful attention to genre, structure, politics, or why a character suddenly feels different on rewatch. That jump is the point. The comedy is loose, but the criticism has teeth. Frame Rate episodes move through titles like Batman Begins, Downhill Racer, Ravenous, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with a willingness to praise craft, mock odd choices, and ask what old prestige or cult favorites are smuggling in. See You Space Podboys brings similar energy to Cowboy Bebop, balancing affection for the series with sadness about approaching endings and debate over season quality. Kings of King leans into Stephen King adaptation sprawl, using absurd imagery and restless riffing as an entry point rather than a substitute for analysis. The show is also comfortable with featured dynamics, which keeps the rhythm unstable in a useful way. Cody Johnston appears in a Battlestar Galactica conversation driven by rewatch enthusiasm and Cylon-aware perspective. Hana Michels joins a Ravenous episode where horror, frontier mythology, and American appetite become part of the same conversation. Soren Bowie appears for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, where the discussion widens into institutions, complacency, anger, and what it means to judge a film in context. Small Beans is not tidy recommendation-core movie chat. It is more like listening to sharp friends argue past the first joke until the joke reveals the thesis.
Made for: For listeners who like movie and TV talk that keeps the messiness of conversation intact. Best for people who can follow digressions, enjoy genre and cult-canon references, and want analysis with bite.
What sets it apart: Small Beans makes close reading feel improvised rather than academic. Its edge comes from how often a ridiculous tangent becomes the clearest route into theme, politics, character, or form.
Small Beans Podcasting is a place for beans of every sort to come bean it up. Free your soul, eh? Be a frijole.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Small Beans pairs unruly conversational humor with attentive criticism of films, Cowboy Bebop, and the relationship between game mechanics and storytelling.
Small Beans turns screen criticism into a lively conversation, moving from jokes to close readings without sanding down disagreements. Michael Swaim and Abe return to films including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Fisher King, Ravenous, and Downhill Racer, examining…
Cowboy Bebop's horse gets close reading, and your strangest rewatch theory finds company.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose, funny case for why a spare ski movie still lands.
Frame Rate turns Downhill Racer into a dry, funny look at sports that ask for a lot and give back very little. Abe and Mike keep the film's spare shape in view while drifting through ski talk, Rocky muscle jokes, Cool Runnings references, and a clear sense of why the movie's…
A cannibal western becomes a joke, then a sharp reading of appetite and power.
Small Beans turns Ravenous into a running joke about wordplay and Boggle, but it keeps slipping that silliness back into a serious look at hunger, corruption, and the film's frontier setting. The banter stays loose and funny without making the deeper reading feel like a detour.
A loose, sharp Cuckoo's Nest conversation about institutions, anger, and the stubborn value of trying.
The episode treats One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as more than a landmark performance showcase. Its real interest is in Jack Nicholson's character, institutional power, and whether anger can still be useful when a system seems built to absorb it.
A lively reading of The Fisher King's guilt, tonal swings, and haunted fantasy imagery.
Frame Rate finds The Fisher King at its most unstable and compelling, as Michael Swain, Abe, and guest Robert Brockway sort through Robin Williams' scatterbrain force, Jeff Bridges' guilt, and a film that keeps shifting under them.
A Game of the Year discussion that weighs The Midnight Walk's atmosphere against the stealth standing between its character moments.
Michael Swaim frames The Midnight Walk as a Game of the Year pick, then lets the episode breathe through John Leo's more skeptical read. Their conversation settles on the distance between the game's mood and the play it demands, especially in the stealth-style sequences.
Edward's arrival turns Bebop's space adventure into a sharp read on comic instinct, animal kinship, and tactical intelligence.
Small Beans treats Bebop's ninth episode as a comic disruption with a working dramatic engine. Edward enters as a trollish, charismatic force, and the discussion follows how that presence bends the series around them.
A horse joke becomes a sly reading of Andy's attachment and cowboy farewell.
Cowboy Funk turns a made-up horse into a surprisingly useful test of Andy's priorities. The episode's running joke keeps bending back toward the same question: why does every escape plan still make room for the animal?
Three friends recap Daredevil, Fallout, and new releases scene by scene, in Spanish.
Slasher talk with sharp teeth.
Adam and Abe analyze 'Cowboy Funk,' the 22nd episode of Cowboy Bebop, where Spike faces Andy, a incompetent but flashy cowboy bounty hunter.
Abe Epperson and Adam Ganser analyze Cowboy Bebop episode 9, 'Jamming with Edward,' focusing on the introduction of the hacker Edward.
The hosts discuss their competitive skills at Boggle, sharing humorous anecdotes about family and social interactions related to the word game.
Two friends reminisce about past gambling experiences, including trips to Vegas and buying scratchers, while discussing their current attitudes toward betting.
The hosts discuss the 'golden triangle' game design concept from Halo 2 with guest Seanbaby, exploring its elements like taking cover, managing shields, and using weapons.
Two hosts discuss the movie 'Sinners' and its trailer while making personal jokes and touching on broader themes like slavery.
The hosts discuss their excitement and experiences rewatching Battlestar Galactica Season 1 Episode 9, sharing personal connections and analyzing the show's impact.
The host discusses a childhood memory about learning that REM doesn't actually stand for rapid eye movement, despite common belief, and connects it to similar misconceptions about band names like Blink-182.
The hosts humorously discuss horses, including their thoughts, heroic qualities, and modern decline, while referencing an animated horse from an episode.
The hosts discuss their excitement and experiences rewatching Battlestar Galactica Season 1 Episode 9, sharing personal connections and analyzing the show's impact.
The hosts of Frame Rate introduce their podcast and discuss Batman's enduring tropes and a missing movie from the canon, likely setting up an analysis of Batman Begins.
The hosts discuss their feelings about the final six episodes of Cowboy Bebop, comparing season one and two quality while anticipating the four-episode finale.
Frame Rate opens on skiing and snowboarding stories.
The show opens on Ravenous as a wordplay problem, then immediately spins the title through screenplay formatting, slug lines, Boggle, and a string of dumb jokes that keep landing anyway.
The hosts and guest talk through One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starting from the blunt idea that Jack Nicholson's character sucks, or is just a bad man.
Frame Rate takes up The Fisher King.
Small Beans episode 982 has Michael Swaim and guest John Liot breaking down Moonhood’s The Midnight Walk, which Swaim names his 2025 Game of the Year.